BUFFALO Authentic Derek Forbort Jersey Kids , N.Y. (AP) Sabres forward Jack Eichel has a sprained right ankle and coach Phil Housley says it’s premature to rule out Buffalo’s leading scorer for the remainder of the season.Housley said Eichel will miss four to six weeks, putting the player in a position to return in the final weeks of the season even though Buffalo might not have much to play for at that point. The Sabres are last in the Eastern Conference standings and sit 19 points out of the playoff contention with 27 games left.”We’ve still got a lot to prove this season still,” Housley said on Sunday before Buffalo’s home game against Colorado and a day after Eichel was hurt in a 4-2 win at Boston. ”We’ve still got a lot of games at home here left. We want to win these games not only for our fans but to build on things.”Eichel was hurt during the first period while attempting to play the puck behind the Bruins net. He was checked from behind by Boston’s Matt Grzelcyk and fell awkwardly into the boards.Eichel leads Buffalo with 22 goals and 53 points in 55 games in his third season since being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft. Eichel became the franchise’s highest-paid player after signing an eight-year, $80 million contract extension in October. The contract kicks in next season.Eichel missed the first 21 games of the 2016-17 season with a sprained left ankle.The injury depletes the offensively challenged Sabres of their most consistent threat, and who’s production has heated up over the past two months. Eichel has 15 goals and 34 points in his past 30 games, and was part of a power-play unit that has converted 13 of its past 39 chances.”Yeah, it’s difficult, especially the way he’s been playing the last two and a half months,” Housley said. ”He’s really come into his own.”Buffalo began the day tied with Arizona for last in the NHL with 128 goals, and last with 77 goals scored in five-on-five situations.The Sabres called up forward Nicholas Baptiste from Rochester Youth Dion Phaneuf Jersey , their American Hockey League affiliate.— ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Auston Matthews continues to make progress as he works to return from an apparent shoulder injury.The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ outdoor game against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at Navy is the fourth consecutive game Matthews is missing since injuring his right shoulder Feb. 22 against the New York Islanders.The team has only termed Matthews day to day, which for coach Mike Babcock typically means a player being out 10 days and getting evaluated, but the 20-year-old center could reasonably return as soon as March 10 against the two-time defending Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins.”He’s skating every day, working hard on his conditioning,” Babcock said. ”The big thing about this injury: you have your legs. When you come back from the previous injury, you don’t have any legs because you didn’t do anything. I think jumping right in and being ready to go when it’s time to come back will be positive for him. He won’t have to get his conditioning back. He’ll have it back already.”Matthews missed four games in November with a suspected back injury and six in December with a concussion. Despite playing just 53 games, the Phoenix area native leads Toronto with 28 goals and is second in points with 50.Going into the Maple Leafs’ game against the Capitals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, they’re 7-4-2 this season without Matthews.”It shows you how deep the team is, how talented it is and how guys are ready to step up when other guys are out of the lineup Drew Doughty Jersey ,” veteran forward Patrick Marleau said. ”We’d love to have our full lineup, have Auston in there, but everybody tries to pick up the slack when he’s not.”When Matthews returns after missing at least Toronto’s game Monday at Buffalo, the Maple Leafs will boast depth down the middle with him, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and Tomas Plekanec. The fourth line of Plekanec – acquired at the trade deadline from rival Montreal – with Leo Komarov and Kasperi Kapanen sets the Maple Leafs up well for the stretch run and playoffs.”It doesn’t matter who you play against,” Babcock said. ”We miss our matchup and they can go next and however. That’s important.”—